After his first solo album 'Pyre of the Black Heart' in 2020 which he had also already released in 2019 in Finnish version (Spotify link and Qobuz link), the former bassist and singer of 'Nightwish', 'Marko Hietala' is back with a new album, 'Roses form the Deep' which sees the Finn slightly toughen up the subject compared to the first opus which mainly contained quite calm atmospheres. Indeed, more muscular, this 'Roses from the Deep' contains rock and hard rock gems which happily take us back a few decades. In addition, as everyone knows, Marko plays bass, an instrument which actively participates in the rhythm section and in this album, we can say that he pulls out all the stops with compositions which are tailor-made for headbanging to the max!
It starts with a real hard rock blast with a good rhythm with 'Frankenstein's Wife' which has a chorus to sing in concert, the groove printed by the band being fantastic (see the video above). Slower but just as tempting, 'Left on Mars' is a sort of 'Kashmir'-style procession in which Marko invited his former stage partner 'Tarja' with whom he tours, each artist participating in the other's set for our greatest pleasure (see the video here). In a similar vein, the mid-tempo 'Proud Whore' is another very enjoyable composition with an excellent guitar solo by 'Tuomas Wäinölä' and beautiful vocal harmonies, then, 'Two Soldiers' is a magnificent ballad with a 'Nightwishian' feel in which the singer 'Juha-Pekka Leppäluoto', who is part of the project 'Dark Sarah' by 'Heidi Parviainen', forms a very nice vocal duet with 'Marko Hietala'. Make way for 'The Dragon Must Die' which takes us into epic and festive metal/folk that 'Arjen Lucassen' would not have denied for his project 'Ayreon', the whole bringing a good dose of progressive in the central instrumental part (another fantastic guitar solo!) and the melody being particularly addictive.
It's still a well-marked rhythm with 'The Devil You Know' which, this time, is borrowed from blues and country and which offers a beautiful diversity in this album, the melodic side always bringing this immediate accessibility, then, 'Rebel of the North' restarts the foot-tapping machine for a new hard rock gem well-tempered with a new magnificent guitar solo. Starting in a calm atmosphere just like 'The Devil You Know', 'Impatient Zero' gradually gains momentum for a magnificent crescendo that explodes halfway through to fall back in the second part in a beautiful way to start again even more beautifully on an addictive rhythm. Note that it is the short version of this title that was the subject of a youtube video. Finally, 'Tammiku', sung in Finnish, continues with a very catchy composition, before the eponymous title of the album offers us a well-deserved quiet finale after all this transmitted energy, a moment that raises the emotional slider several notches and which shows all the talent of the Finn to lay us wonderful ballads (see the video here).
In summary, 'Marko Hietala' offers us a magnificent album whose compositions quickly become addictive, and this, thanks to interpretations highlighting a hell of a groove because, I defy anyone not to have an irresistible urge to headbang or tap their feet to the rhythmic tracks. In any case, I have the impression that this 'Roses from the Deep' has a strong chance of being played on repeat by all fans of timeless melodic rock and hard rock... | |
